2026-06-11T16:19:09.973Z / 路透社
6月11日（路透社）——根据法庭记录，明尼苏达州一名男子周四对联邦指控认罪，他被控杀害明尼苏达州众议院议长及其丈夫，并企图谋杀一名州参议员及其妻子。
现年58岁的万斯·路德·伯尔特尔（Vance Luther Boelter）来自明尼苏达州格林艾尔，他承认了六项与近一年前针对州议员的袭击相关的联邦谋杀、枪支和跟踪指控，推翻了他在8月份提出的无罪抗辩。
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明尼苏达州联邦检察官丹尼尔·罗森在周四听证会结束后的新闻发布会上表示，在伯尔特尔更改认罪态度之前，司法部决定不会对他寻求死刑，前提是他同意认罪协议，根据该协议，他可能被判处两个终身监禁外加40年监禁。
罗森表示，其团队原本有把握获得死刑判决，但“当一名被告愿意认罪并接受连续终身监禁加刑，以确保他余生永远无法重获自由时，这是一个我们绝不能错过的机会。”
伯尔特尔伪装成警察实施了2025年6月14日的枪击案。他佩戴硅胶面具，驾驶一辆车牌仅为“警察”字样的SUV，警方后来在车内发现了一份包含45名以上明尼苏达州议员和官员的名单。
他在明尼苏达州众议院民主党领袖梅利莎·霍特曼（Melissa Hort曼）和其丈夫马克的家中将两人枪杀，并在几英里外的另一处住宅开枪打伤了另一名民主党议员、州参议员约翰·霍夫曼（John Hoffman）及其妻子伊薇特。
据《明尼苏达星论坛报》报道，约翰和伊薇特·霍夫曼在周四的法庭听证会上坐在前排，聆听伯尔特尔供述枪击细节。
这起枪击案是近年来美国政治暴力事件激增的一个典型案例，也让以文明和两党合作著称的明尼苏达州许多民众感到不安。明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹称霍特曼及其丈夫的遇害是“有政治动机的暗杀”，美国众议院共和党议长迈克·约翰逊则称这是“可怕的政治暴力”。
经过为期两天的追捕——明尼苏达州历史上规模最大的一次搜捕行动，警方最终将伯尔特尔抓获。
据当地媒体报道，他还面临州级指控，包括两项一级预谋谋杀罪和四项一级企图谋杀罪。
朱莉娅·哈特报道，唐娜·布赖森、迪帕·巴宾顿和比尔·伯克罗特编辑
Minnesota man pleads guilty to federal charges in state lawmaker shooting case
2026-06-11T16:19:09.973Z / Reuters
June 11 (Reuters) – A Minnesota man pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges that he killed Minnesota’s House speaker and her husband and attempted to murder a state senator and his wife, according to court records.
Vance Luther Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to six federal murder, firearms, and stalking charges related to the attacks nearly a year ago on the state lawmakers, changing a not guilty plea he had entered in August.
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The change of plea came after the Justice Department decided not to seek the death penalty against Boelter, as long as he agreed to a plea under which he could receive two life sentences plus 40 years in prison, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said at a press conference after Thursday’s hearing.
Rosen said his office believed they could have prevailed in getting a death sentence, but “when you have a defendant that is prepared to plead guilty, take consecutive life terms plus to ensure that he never sees freedom again in his entire life, that was an opportunity that we just could not pass up.”
Boelter disguised himself as a police officer to carry out the June 14, 2025 shootings. He wore a silicone mask and drove an SUV with a license plate that simply read, “Police,” in which officers later found a list of more than 45 other Minnesota legislators and officials.
He fatally shot Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark, in their home and shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few miles away.
John and Yvette Hoffman sat in the front row during Thursday’s court hearing as Boelter described the shootings, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
The shootings were a dramatic example of how political violence has spiked in the United States in recent years, and left many unsettled in Minnesota, a state known for civility and bipartisanship. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the killing of Hortman and her husband a “politically motivated assassination” and Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson called it “horrific political violence.”
Boelter was captured by police after a two-day manhunt, the largest in Minnesota’s history.
He also faces state charges including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder and four counts of first-degree attempted murder, according to local media reports.
Reporting by Julia Harte, editing by Donna Bryson, Deepa Babington and Bill Berkrot
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